Derailing-switch and safety-frog



(No Modell) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. 0. W. RAHBAR. DERAILING SWITCH AND SAFETY FROG.

QUEBEC ICE CDC C CEEC E (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

C. W. RAHBAR.

DERAILING SWITCH AND SAFETY FROG.

Patented July 2, 1895.

7 F IMMIIIIIW .rrn STATES PATENT Orrlcnt CHRISTIAN w. RAHBAR, or MASABA, MINNEISOTA.

DERAILlNG-SWITCH AND SAFETY-FROG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 542,028, dated July 2, 1895. Application filed December 20, 1894. $erial1l'o. 532,433. (No model.)

To aZZ whom/it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN W. RAHBAR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Masaba, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Detailing-Switch and Safety-Frog, of which the following is a specification,

My invention relates to a combined derailing-switch and safety-frog, and the objects in view are to provide a simpleand efficient construction of derailing-switch for a sidingtrack connected for simultaneous operation with the main switch-rails and also with an adjustable fro -rail adapted to be arranged in alignment with either the main or sidingtrack rail, and, furthermore, to provide a yielding frog-rail adapted to permit passage from a siding-track to the main track when the fro -rail is arranged in alignment with the main-track rail.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a railway-switch mechanism embodying my invention. 1 Fig. 2 is a detail view of the mechanism for operating the main switch-rails. Fig. 3 is a similar view of the improved frog and connections. Fig. 4 is a view of the derailing or cut-out switch-rail and connections. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the flexible bell-crank lever for communicating motion from the operating-rod to the connecting-bar which is attached to the adjustable frog-rail. Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the adjustable frog-rail having an inclined tread.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

l and 1 representthe inner and outer maintrack rails. 2 and'2 represent the inner and outer siding-track rails, and 3 the main switchrails, which are pivotally mounted at one end in operative relation, respectively, with the inner main and siding track rails, saidswitchrails being adapted to be arranged, respectively, to connect with either the outer sidingrail or the outer main rail. The free ends of said switch rails are connected by a switchbar 4, which is connected for operation with a switch-stand of any suitable construction. Shown at 5.

6 represents a frog-point arranged at the junction or intersection of the inner main and siding track rails, said point being stationary and being secured to a baseplate 7, which is attached to the ties. A fixed frograil 8 is arranged at one end contiguous to the frog-point with its body portion 9 in alignment with the inner siding-track rail and having a deflected portion forming a guard 10, which is arranged parallel with the inner main-track rail, and hence with that side of the frog-point which is in alignment with the inner main-track rail. Guard-rails 11 are arranged contiguous to the inner sides of the outer main and siding track rails at points opposite the frog-point.

Pivotally mounted at one end in operative relation with the inner main-track rail is an adjustable frog-rail 12, the body portion 13 of which is adapted to be arranged in alignment with said inner main-track rail, and said movable frog-rail is provided with a deflected arm 14:, which lies in contact and parallel with the inner siding-track rail when the main portion thereof is in alignment with the main-track rail. When the adjustable frog-rail is moved out of alignment with the inner main-track rail, said deflected arm 14 is moved out of con- 7 tact with the inner siding-track rail, thus forming an intervening space through which may pass the flanges of wheels traversing the inner siding-track rail. The movable frograil is further provided with a terminal offset or angularly-disposed guide 15, which is arranged at an angle with the line of the inner siding-track rail to admit the flange of a wheel approaching the frog of the arrow a, for a purpose hereinafter explained, and said fro -rail rests upon horizontal wear or guide-plates 16, which are secured to the upper surface of the base-plate 7, and the portion of the foot of the said frograil contiguous to the frog-point is cut away to allow the deflected arm 14 of the frog-rail to lie in close contact with the frog-point. Furthermore, the tread and web of the extremity of the guide 15 are cut away to form a projection or finger 17, which is fitted in a keeper 18 secured to the base-plate 7.

in the direction Ice Attached to the movable frog-rail near its free end is a rigid stem 19, to which is pivotally connected one arm of a flexible bellcrank lever 21. Said bell-crank lever consists of a continuous bar of spring. metal bent at its center or at the junction of its arms to form a spring-coil 22, through which is passed the bolt 23, which forms the pivot of the lever. The'outer armrof the bell-crank lever 21 is connected by means of an operating-rod 24 to one arm of a bell-crank lever 25 arranged contiguous to the switch-bar 4, said operatingrod, which is preferably tubular in construction, being capable of longitudinal extension and contraction to compensate for wear and the expansion and contraction of the parts due to changes of temperature. This extension and contraction of the operating-rod are accomplished by forming said rod of adjustable sections 26 and 27, of which the section 27 is provided with a socket 28 to receive a threaded portion of the section 26. The bellcrank lever 25 is connected at the terminal of its other arm, through an intermediate swinging link 29, with the switch-bar 4.

30 represents a derailing or cut-out switchrail arranged in operative relation with the outer siding-track rail, with one end pivotally ment when encountered by car-wheels.

mounted contiguous to a terminal of said siding-track rail and the other end free to be adjusted toward or from the line of the sidingtrack rail. The portion of the siding-track rail adjacent to the free end of the de-railing switch-rail is provided with a deflected arm 31, and the free end of the rail 30 is tapered toward its extremity, whereby, when brought in contact with the deflected arm of the sidingtrack rail, said switch-rail occupies a position in direct alignment with the main portion of the siding-track rail. This free end of the rail 30 rests upon guide-plates 32 secured to the ties, which raise the free end of said rail sufficiently to cause its foot to pass over the foot of the contiguous portion of the sidingtrack rail, and said guide-plates are provided with terminal stops 33 to limit the deflection of the switch-rail 30 and thus prevent displace- The pivotal end of the switch-rail 30 and contiguous end of the siding-track rail are seated in a chair 34, and said pivotal end of the switch-rail is provided with a lateral ear 35 connected by a bolt 36 with the base of said chair. Connected to the switch-rail 30 near its free end is astem 37, to which is pivotally connected a switch-bar 38, connected at its outer end to. one arm of a bell-crank lever 39, the other arm of said lever being connected to an operating-rod 40, which forms a continuation of the operating-rod 24. ber 40 of the operating-rod is also formed in longitudinally extensible and eontractible sections 41 and 42, of which the former is provided with a socket 43 to receive the threaded terminal of the section 42.

This being the construction of the improved This memswitch mechanism, the operation thereof, briefly stated, is as follows: When the main track is open, as shown in Fig. 1, the adjustable frog-rail is arranged with its body portion in alignment with the main-track rail, thus forming a continuous track at this point and avoiding the jumping which is necessary when the frog-point is spaced from the contiguous portions of the continuous rails. Also, the free end of the derailing or cut-out switchrail is deflected from alignment with the siding-track rail, whereby a train or car on the siding-track cannot be moved either accidentally or otherwise from the siding-track t0 the main track, but will be derailed upon reaching the point at which said derailing or cut-out rail is located. When the switch-bar 4 is moved to close the main track and open the siding-track by shifting the main switch-rails 3 to the position opposite to that shown in Fig. 1, the adjustable frog-rail is moved at its free end out of contact with the frog-point and the derailing'switch is turned to a position in alignment with the siding-track rail.

In order to provide for'the use of the improved frog independently of the derailingswitch,I have adopted the yielding bell-crank lever 21, which allows the frog-rail 12 to be deflected from the position shown in Fig. 1 when the guide 15 is encountered by the flanges ot' the wheels of a car approaching the frog in the direction of the arrow at or passing from the siding to the main track. This frog-rail is deflected sufficiently to allow said wheels to pass and then immediately resume its normal position'to open the main track.

The arrangement of the ear 35 upon the side of the switch-point toward which the free end of said switch-point swings increases the lateral displacement of the switch-point and carries it beyond the path of wheels trav-- ersing the track, whereby the liability of injury during the derailing of a car is reduced to the minimum.

From the above description it will be understood that various changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

In order to avoid jar in passing from the siding to the main track and to relieve the free end of the adjustable frog-rail of the weight of a car in passing along the main track, I have provided the frog-rail at its free end with a downwardly inclined tread toward its extremity.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The combination with switch-operating mechanism having an operating rod, of a movable rail, a yielding spring-metal bell-crank lever provided at its center with a spring coil of which the arms are. extensions, one of such arms being connected to the operating rod,

' the free end of said and connections between the other arm and switch rail, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with inner and outer main and siding track-rails, switch-rails, and operating mechanism for the switch-rails, of a fixed frog-point, a fixed frog-rail arranged in alignment with the inner siding track-rail and having a deflected arm arranged parallel with the inner main track-rail, a pivotal frograil adapted to have its main portion aligned with the inner main track-rail and having a deflected arm to lie parallel with the inner siding track-rail and terminating in an angularly disposed guide, for engagement by the flanges of the wheel a yielding spring metal bell crank-lever having one armconnected with the movable frog-rail, and connections between said bell-crank lever and the switch operating mechanism, substantially as specified.

3. The combination with inner and outer main and siding track-rails, switch-rails, a switch-bar connecting said switch-rails, operating mechanism for the switch-bar, a bell crank-lever, and a link connecting one arm of the bell crank-lever to said switch-bar, of

a fixed frog-point, a fixed frog-rail having its body portion in alignmentwith the inner sid ing track-rail, a movable frog-rail having its body portion arranged in alignment with the inner main track-rail, a yielding spring metal bell-crank lever having one arm connected by interposed means with the free end of the movable frog-rail, a derailing or cut-out switchpoint adapted to be aligned with a siding track-rail, stops to limit the deflection of said derailing switch-point, a bell-crank lever having one arm connected, by interposed means with said switch-point, and operating rods between the bell-crank-lever which is connected to the switch-bar and the bell-crank lever which is connected to the movable frograil, and between the latter and the bellcrank lever which is connected to the switchpoint, said operating rods comprising relatively adjustable sections to adapt the rods for longitudinal extension and contraction, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTIAN W. RAHBAR. NVitnesses:

E. P. LOWE, N. B. SHANK. 

